So thought I'd start a thread as a lot of progress has been made since I bought her!

I haven't got many good photos as it's still in the garage so there isn't much room but here you go..

This is how she sits a the mo:

Used to be like this:

Since this pic It has had 2 8v engines (HG went on first, then split the sump on second so thought 16v would be a sensible idea) and now it's on it's 3rd. an AFH! It was all finished today, and we couldn't make out why it wouldn't fire.. There's no compression!!! I hate my life right now, spent the whole summer getting this to where it is now and spending stupid amounts on little parts for it just to have found out I got sold a fucked engine. Thank Perry from Rugby in Coventry! You c***.

So If anyone has a bare head and block that is actually fine! or still in their car so I could see it running and are breaking their car soon, please PM me asap!

I don't have a lot of money left, and I'm supposed to be moving all my stuff to Bournemouth as I'm going to university in the next few weeks so to find out now that it's buggered is a right pain in the ass :( Just working my last week now as well before I leave as I'll be moving house so I', not going to have much $$$ at all.

I'm down in Bridport, that's in Dorset if anyone knows anyone near that might be of use?

Even though all of this has happened, I would still like to thank all of the users on here that have given me advice and helped me out, because without that, I wouldn't even have what I do, so thank you all!

Have some pics..

7.5 banded steels at the back and 7s on the front.. Fit perfectly I think!

Bodywork is pretty terrible but that's something on my long term list of to do's!

on budget coilies, wound all the way down with bumpstops cut down so sits lower

has central locking and a boot pop on a key fob which I wired in, and has both badge and handle recess smoothed over on the boot lid, but still in primer.

upgraded component speakers with mutant sub and amp in boot and cheap Sony CD, usb, aux in head unit, does the job!

fair few other little things I have done to it.. It was completely standard when I bought it, so if you see anything that isn't standard, I have done it!

all your thoughts are welcome! and hit me up if you know of anyone who has a cheap bare AFH engine for sale in my area! Thanks guyssss.

Tommy B.

Edited 19 March, 201214 yr by tommybaker

When I split my 8v in half! haha

yes that's oil..^^^

Edited 24 August, 201115 yr by tommybaker

Well that's a pisstake!

You gonna get another one whilst at bournemouth uni? My mate studies down there so will probs travel down at somepoint, the car's looking nice though mate, nice work you've put in!

Hope you find a decent running one soon!

Nice work, we have twins, both have white 1.4 16v conversions with open air :)

white polo with silver steels = win mine will be looking likes this when i finally pull my finger out and actually do stuff t it lol!

Well that's a pisstake!

You gonna get another one whilst at bournemouth uni? My mate studies down there so will probs travel down at somepoint, the car's looking nice though mate, nice work you've put in!

Hope you find a decent running one soon!

Thanks for the kind words mate, yeah it is a bit of a pisstake.. I put so much of my spare time and money into this, I even took the engine apart to the bare head and block, chemical cleaned it over like 2 days as there was that much grease and gunk on there, painted it all white, painted all other ancillaries black, polished & painted rocker cover.. I could go on forever man, and all for nothing cause of some dishonest d***head. :(

After spending so much money on the car alone, I think i'm just gonna have to scrape together a bit of cash while i'm staying in Bournemouth and just get this done.

apart from the actual engine, everything is new and has been replaced.. down to £30 gaskets and cambelt covers from VW! So I think I should bite the bullet (for the 4th time) and try find a decent engine and do a straight swap.

If that happens! You should give me a shout when you're down this way! There's always meets and such going on down this way that I never manage to get to, so could be an idea! :)

Nice work, we have twins, both have white 1.4 16v conversions with open air :)

I know man!! I've been on the forum for a fair while now, and I've always kept an eye on yours! You've done a fair few things that I always wanted to do to mine haha (AFH conversion & bike TBs mainly) I've always had a soft spot for white cars :)

white polo with silver steels = win mine will be looking likes this when i finally pull my finger out and actually do stuff t it lol!

haha cool man! sounds like a lot of work, your 6n in your profile pic is silver! ha (: thank you though

I kinda got fond of the silver.. But was going to rattle can them white, next week if my car was running.. But things happen and plans change :(

Thanks for the kind words mate, yeah it is a bit of a pisstake.. I put so much of my spare time and money into this, I even took the engine apart to the bare head and block, chemical cleaned it over like 2 days as there was that much grease and gunk on there, painted it all white, painted all other ancillaries black, polished & painted rocker cover.. I could go on forever man, and all for nothing cause of some dishonest d***head. :(

After spending so much money on the car alone, I think i'm just gonna have to scrape together a bit of cash while i'm staying in Bournemouth and just get this done.

apart from the actual engine, everything is new and has been replaced.. down to £30 gaskets and cambelt covers from VW! So I think I should bite the bullet (for the 4th time) and try find a decent engine and do a straight swap.

If that happens! You should give me a shout when you're down this way! There's always meets and such going on down this way that I never manage to get to, so could be an idea! :)

Yeah man, i'd be so annoyed and angry! Did that engine come with the ecu, transponder etc etc?

I saw one going on here a few weeks ago for £150... though can't find it now :/ really do hope you manage to save up for one and get it running, keep the rocker cover etc haha :)

And Yeah man I'll message you, think i've seen you around before on swdubs too, i'm only down the coast a bit so not too much of a drive haha

Thanks for the kind words mate, yeah it is a bit of a pisstake.. I put so much of my spare time and money into this, I even took the engine apart to the bare head and block, chemical cleaned it over like 2 days as there was that much grease and gunk on there, painted it all white, painted all other ancillaries black, polished & painted rocker cover.. I could go on forever man, and all for nothing cause of some dishonest d***head. :(

After spending so much money on the car alone, I think i'm just gonna have to scrape together a bit of cash while i'm staying in Bournemouth and just get this done.

apart from the actual engine, everything is new and has been replaced.. down to £30 gaskets and cambelt covers from VW! So I think I should bite the bullet (for the 4th time) and try find a decent engine and do a straight swap.

If that happens! You should give me a shout when you're down this way! There's always meets and such going on down this way that I never manage to get to, so could be an idea! :)

Yeah man, i'd be so annoyed and angry! Did that engine come with the ecu, transponder etc etc?

I saw one going on here a few weeks ago for £150... though can't find it now :/ really do hope you manage to save up for one and get it running, keep the rocker cover etc haha :)

And Yeah man I'll message you, think i've seen you around before on swdubs too, i'm only down the coast a bit so not too much of a drive haha

Well I haven't had much luck since I bought the car to be honest :( But it's become such a big money pit, I can't stop now! even if I wanted to haha and no it didn't!

it came with a bunch of ancillaries, but all the ones that wear and that you'd replace anyway like waterpump, spark plugs, aux belt, whole new cam belt kit the thermo housing was broken so need the whole thing list goes on.. and that's what I did. Literally everything on it is new, apart from engine, power steering pump and alternator pretty much. Oh and engine loom.

Separately, I had to buy ecu, immob, transponder ring etc. off here, also bought throttle body, all engine mounts, had to get new rocker cover gaskets, oil filter, sump plug, lower plastic cambelt cover all new from VW (not cheap at all) got all the top plastic engine covers off here, HT leads, BMC airfilter (was lucky with that, got it cheap on eBay) and as the AFH is a 1998, we had to splice the whole engine loom into my 1996 loom as the multiplugs are different on the newer ones, so that took a fair bit of time and effort, let alone having to source all these parts, and continuously scourer the internet for bits and bobs. Has been a nightmare and I've been off the road for months now. Didn't even get a summer with ma car :(

and thanks for looking pal, I shall keep my eyes open on here and hopefully something will pop up soon! yeahhh that was the idea! keep everything like rocker cover and literally swap the bare engines over. My mechanic friend who has helped me do all this, said he'll fit the new engine for free if I can source one!! As I think he was just as gutted as I was when we found out it was dead. Pretty good of him!

Yeah man Plymouth isn't too far! I'll be properly moved in to bournemouth by the end of September so hit me up dude!

Edited 25 August, 201115 yr by tommybaker

Have some pictures to cheer you up from this depressing story! haha

Edited 25 August, 201115 yr by tommybaker

..and how I split the sump on my last 8v:

Mate gutted! I did think there was some thing a little fishy about that lump when you posted about buying it but how are you meant to know?

Have you pulled the engine apart to find out what is fucked? It could just need a head skim and new gasket which could be done for about 70 quid, on the other hand it could be bent valves or holes in pistons which would be much more expensive but its not going to cost you any thing to pull it apart and see

Mate gutted! I did think there was some thing a little fishy about that lump when you posted about buying it but how are you meant to know?

Have you pulled the engine apart to find out what is fucked? It could just need a head skim and new gasket which could be done for about 70 quid, on the other hand it could be bent valves or holes in pistons which would be much more expensive but its not going to cost you any thing to pull it apart and see

Yeah well it's just one of those risks you have to take sometimes which doesn't turn out for the better. Oh well what's done is done. :(

And I wish I could do it myself mate but I don't know a lot about mechanics, everything I know is from watching my mechanic friends do cars at their garage, and helping them with bits and bobs, and that's the only place I'd be able to do something like that which has all the equipment etc.. I study Graphic Design, and my car is just an expensive interest I'm afraid to say haha.

And I don't think it's the gasket mate, we tipped some oil down into the first chamber to see if it'll fill the gap and get a reading on the compression tester, but nothing. Which makes me think it's something more serious and expensive to fix. Such a shame as well, as I spent a lot of time prepping and painting that engine white! Think I'd be better off finding a new bare head and block which I KNOW isn't fucked and just doing a straight swap.

..it just won't be as pretty )': haha

(p.s. if and when I manage to get this sorted, I'll still have those regulators off of you mate haha, things have just been popping up so haven't had the spare cash as you can see haa[if you still have them])

Edited 25 August, 201115 yr by tommybaker

It's a risk I've taken before too, I was offered a afh engine that had been sat in a shed for nearly two years, price seemed too good to he true but I was desperate so just had to go with it and hope for the best. Literally just chucked it in without doing any thing other than topping the oil up and it turned out to be the best afh I've ever owned, smooth as fuck and pulled like fuck, but it could of very easily gone the other way. Buying used engines than you haven't seen running is a massive gamble, you just have to hope that it turns out for the better :sad:

Still got the window regs (if that's what you on about?) Keep having people message about them and then never reply

Anyway mate i'll keep an eye out on the sites I go on for any afh's popping up for sale, by the sounds of it I'd say you've got bent valves. You should still be able to get some money from selling this engine on tho either by breaking it or even selling it to some one looking to rebuild one

It's a risk I've taken before too, I was offered a afh engine that had been sat in a shed for nearly two years, price seemed too good to he true but I was desperate so just had to go with it and hope for the best. Literally just chucked it in without doing any thing other than topping the oil up and it turned out to be the best afh I've ever owned, smooth as fuck and pulled like fuck, but it could of very easily gone the other way. Buying used engines than you haven't seen running is a massive gamble, you just have to hope that it turns out for the better :sad:

Still got the window regs (if that's what you on about?) Keep having people message about them and then never reply

Anyway mate i'll keep an eye out on the sites I go on for any afh's popping up for sale, by the sounds of it I'd say you've got bent valves. You should still be able to get some money from selling this engine on tho either by breaking it or even selling it to some one looking to rebuild one

Yeah man, you never know what you're getting really. Well hopefully I'll have some luck like yours with this next one! haha it's the most satisfying thing when something like that turns about to be better than expected!

and yeah the window regs, sorry man, I was kinda one of them people :( but the sooner I manage to get myself another AFH, the sooner I can buy them off you! ha Sorry about that!

and I'd really appreciate that mate, cheers. Kinda need to find one in the next week otherwise it's gonna have to be put to the side as I have uni very soon :( I've had a few people say it's bent valves as well, but no way of really checking without taking it apart. But selling it is a good idea man, I'm sure someone will want it! Think I'm gonna try sell a bunch of 6n stuff I've taken off, or replaced and try and get some cash together for this new engine. Wanna give me yours? haha Bad times aye!!

Cars lookin sweet mate! Can't wait to see it 100% finished. Pls could you tell me where you got you boot smoothed done and the boot popper put in and how much it cost? or did you do it?

Cheers Kris

use a ford ka boot popper

they are very strong imo.

make sure its all welded aswell seen some dodgey filling stuff going on before lol.

someone as just filled the badge recess and it never cracked off here tho.. very lucky.

use a ford ka boot popper

they are very strong imo.

make sure its all welded aswell seen some dodgey filling stuff going on before lol.

someone as just filled the badge recess and it never cracked off here tho.. very lucky.

use a ford ka boot popper

they are very strong imo.

make sure its all welded aswell seen some dodgey filling stuff going on before lol.

someone as just filled the badge recess and it never cracked off here tho.. very lucky.

Ok chee, takeget akey made for the central locking and boot popper to b on the same key?

use a ford ka boot popper

they are very strong imo.

make sure its all welded aswell seen some dodgey filling stuff going on before lol.

someone as just filled the badge recess and it never cracked off here tho.. very lucky.

Ok chee, takeget akey made for the central locking and boot popper to b on the same key?

I'll get some pictures up soon if you want mate, I fitted the actual solenoid into the boot-lid myself, and wired it all in to the front of my car. I bought a kit off a company called Rclick, was about £20 I think after postage and was pretty simple to do, it was just getting the wire up through the boot lid and tucked up all neat the hard part!

and my friend has a welder at his garage, so I made some metal plates out of a scrap citroen AX bonnet he had lying about which fitted in the circular badge recess and another for the hole where I took the handle out of, and he welded them in for me. A skim of filler over the top and jobs a gooden! It's still in grey primer at the mo though, but I think it's gonna look sweet once all finished and painted (: as I said I get some photos for you if you want!?

I also bought the central locking kit from Rclick and just wired the boot popper wire into the CL kit and it works on the key fob as well as lock/unlock it's all explained in the wiring diagrams and isn't actually that hard to do as long as you have a bit of patience, and some spare time!

maybe I'll put up a vid sometime.

thanks for the comments guys!

Sorry, forgot to mention prices!

boot pop £20 - you can fit it yourself, I can always help you

badge & handle recess welded over, fillered and primed - £30 (might be mates rates though and I did prep the boot and make the plates so would probably be a bit more if other people were to do it for you) also it obviously needs to be painted, so that is gonna be a very costly part of the job.

Central Locking kit - £40 included 2 flip up key fobs with lock/unlock/trunk release, blank keys, 4 solenoids (door motors which pull and push your door pins) all wiring and main control box/receiver. also has a little LED i drilled into the dash, so when the car is locked it flashes a little blue light.

I think it adds quite a nice touch to the car! :)

Edited 27 August, 201115 yr by tommybaker

Cheers mate big help, yeah pics would be wicked thanks buddy.

boot welded up and primed, with glass wiper blank and boot pop

white mk4's always do it for me!

Good job mate!

white mk4's always do it for me!

Good job mate!

Thanks buddy

picking up a bare AFH engine this week, so hopefully we'll see some more progress very soon!!

Edited 29 August, 201115 yr by tommybaker

Updatessss!

Hopefully you'l have this running soon